Chelsea are now on the verge of ending yet another disappointing season under BlueCo ownership. They sit ninth in the Premier League table, and with two games still left to play, the Blues could finish the campaign as low as 15th depending on results.
Although the Blues have reached the final of the FA Cup, where they will take on Manchester City, there isn’t much optimism regarding that game following their recent slump in form. Fans will be hoping that they can pull off an upset.
As a result, the Blues are already looking forward to the upcoming summer transfer window with a handful of issues to address in order to get the club back on track from next season onwards.
Last summer, Chelsea invested heavily to bolster their attacking options, but at the same time, their defence was somewhat overlooked, for which the Blues paid the price throughout the course of their campaign. This time around, BlueCo are looking a lot more resolute in their approach as they are now being linked with quite a few quality options in order to strengthen their backline.
Chelsea make contact with defender who has €80 million release clause
Most recently, reports of the Blues’ interest in Sporting Lisbon left-back Maxi Araujo were making the rounds in various media outlets.
Now, according to a recent report from A Bola (via Sport Witness) Atletico Madrid are leading the race. Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Juventus are all keen. All of the relevant parties have held ‘exploratory talks’ with the Araujo’s agents.
The left-back has been a regular starter under Rui Borges at Sporting and has already scored seven goals and provided four assists in all competitions for the club this season. He is believed to have a €80 million release clause in his contract.
How Araujo can be an important addition to the squad
As for the Blues, Araujo could be a key addition to their squad going into the next season as Marc Cucurella could be on his way out of the club with rumours of a move to former club Barcelona emerging following his public comments regarding the management’s decisions over the past few seasons.
Undoubtedly, Cucurella has been one of the few players who has been consistent through most parts of this poor campaign. The club will definitely not like to lose one of their most influential senior squad members. But if he does leave, they will need to find a replacement.
In many ways, someone like Araujo could be perfect if Xabi Alonso is appointed as the club’s new manager. Wing-backs were very important to his Bayer Leverkusen side, contributing with a lot of goal contributions on their way to the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal double.
Araujo is currently under contract with the Portuguese club till the summer of 2029, which obviously puts them in the driving seat in terms of negotiations. One would imagine that they would be willing to let him leave for lower than the release clause, which is unlikely to be met.
